The Jewish Week
Saturday, December 20, 2003
(12/19/2003)
Mormons Still Baptizing Dead Jews
Church has not removed Jews’ names from database.
Stewart Ain - Staff Writer
Despite a 1995 promise to stop baptizing deceased Jews, the Mormon church has not removed the names of thousands of Jews within its database who were earlier baptized, and a church official admitted that more Jews may continue to be baptized posthumously.
Ernest Michel, a former executive vice president of UJA-Federation of New York who helped broker the 1995 agreement, said his attempt to convince the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to remove Jewish names from its database of 400 million names has been rebuffed by the church. Just a year ago, the church rededicated itself to ending the practice of baptizing dead Jews and to removing the names of those already recorded.
“In accordance with our interpretation of the agreement, they have violated it,” said Michel. “We have reached the point where we are now going public. There is no point in meeting with them again. My hope is that the church will understand we are serious about this and will not just sit by while the church posthumously baptizes Jews — not just Holocaust victims but all Jews, including prominent Israelis.”
He said that among the Jews the Mormons posthumously baptized were David Ben-Gurion, Israel’s first prime minister, and Theodor Herzl, the founder of the Zionist movement. Anne Frank, Moshe Dayan and Albert Einstein have also been baptized, critics claim.
According to Mormon theology, those who did not convert during their lifetime should be baptized even after death and given a choice of religion. The Church encourages its followers to record their ancestors’ names and baptize them in a sacred ceremony.
Part of the dispute is that Michel wants the church to go through its database and remove the names of all Jews.
“They put them in, let them take them out,” he said.
But a church elder, Todd Christofferson, said that is not feasible. He said the church would, however, investigate and remove any Jewish names it is informed of on an individual basis.
Countered Michel: “The onus should not be on us.”
Christofferson insisted it would be virtually impossible for the church on its own to remove the Jewish names.
“The cost of trying to do that is astronomical,” he said. “You would have to do research on each line. You can’t just say this name sounds Jewish.”
But Michel said there are obvious Jewish names that should be removed, such as persons named Yankel and Chaim.
Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles, said the church should endeavor to put this issue to rest by hiring a Jewish genealogist to provide a list of obviously Jewish first and last names.
In addition, he said the church must better educate its members of its policy not to baptize a dead person without the explicit permission of a relative.
Rabbi Cooper pointed out that there have recently been complaints from Armenians and those in the Russian Orthodox Church that their relatives have also been posthumously baptized by the Mormon church.
“The dramatic growth of the Mormon church worldwide and the advent of the Internet age means that what may have been done quietly yesterday is going to be front-page news today,” Rabbi Cooper said. “They may be surprised by the sustained interest and concern from the Jewish community, and are probably surprised to hear from other communities who also don’t like the idea of posthumous conversions. …
“As far as Judaism is concerned, [baptism of the dead] is theologically irrelevant, but emotionally it is quite distressful because it is viewed by many of us as a sign of disrespect.”
Michel, a Holocaust survivor, said he became involved in this issue when he learned that the church posthumously baptized his parents and about 10 other family members, all of whom were killed in the Holocaust.
Christofferson said the church at this time does not have any means of requiring those planning to add a deceased’s name to the database to list the name of the relative who approved the baptism.
“But technology is getting to the point where that would be doable in two or three years,” he said.
Rabbi Cooper said that is not good enough.
“They have to shorten the time period in putting up effective firewalls,” he said. “They are experts. And they have to do a better job in communicating to their fold” the 1995 directive.
He pointed out that the “only reason we are in possession [of the names of Jews who continue to be baptized] is because there are people in the church who see that there is something wrong.”
“The Jewish community is not interested in fighting with them,” Rabbi Cooper added. “We don’t need another enemy. But we need to develop trust.”
Earlier this year, a group of Mormon volunteers organized a cleanup of a Jewish cemetery in Bayside, Queens. While many in the Jewish community welcomed the help, some were skeptical of the participants’ motivation, suggesting the purpose was to collect names for posthumous baptism, a charge denied by leaders of the group.
Saturday, December 20, 2003
(12/19/2003)
Mormons Still Baptizing Dead Jews
Church has not removed Jews’ names from database.
Stewart Ain - Staff Writer
Despite a 1995 promise to stop baptizing deceased Jews, the Mormon church has not removed the names of thousands of Jews within its database who were earlier baptized, and a church official admitted that more Jews may continue to be baptized posthumously.
Ernest Michel, a former executive vice president of UJA-Federation of New York who helped broker the 1995 agreement, said his attempt to convince the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to remove Jewish names from its database of 400 million names has been rebuffed by the church. Just a year ago, the church rededicated itself to ending the practice of baptizing dead Jews and to removing the names of those already recorded.
“In accordance with our interpretation of the agreement, they have violated it,” said Michel. “We have reached the point where we are now going public. There is no point in meeting with them again. My hope is that the church will understand we are serious about this and will not just sit by while the church posthumously baptizes Jews — not just Holocaust victims but all Jews, including prominent Israelis.”
He said that among the Jews the Mormons posthumously baptized were David Ben-Gurion, Israel’s first prime minister, and Theodor Herzl, the founder of the Zionist movement. Anne Frank, Moshe Dayan and Albert Einstein have also been baptized, critics claim.
According to Mormon theology, those who did not convert during their lifetime should be baptized even after death and given a choice of religion. The Church encourages its followers to record their ancestors’ names and baptize them in a sacred ceremony.
Part of the dispute is that Michel wants the church to go through its database and remove the names of all Jews.
“They put them in, let them take them out,” he said.
But a church elder, Todd Christofferson, said that is not feasible. He said the church would, however, investigate and remove any Jewish names it is informed of on an individual basis.
Countered Michel: “The onus should not be on us.”
Christofferson insisted it would be virtually impossible for the church on its own to remove the Jewish names.
“The cost of trying to do that is astronomical,” he said. “You would have to do research on each line. You can’t just say this name sounds Jewish.”
But Michel said there are obvious Jewish names that should be removed, such as persons named Yankel and Chaim.
Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles, said the church should endeavor to put this issue to rest by hiring a Jewish genealogist to provide a list of obviously Jewish first and last names.
In addition, he said the church must better educate its members of its policy not to baptize a dead person without the explicit permission of a relative.
Rabbi Cooper pointed out that there have recently been complaints from Armenians and those in the Russian Orthodox Church that their relatives have also been posthumously baptized by the Mormon church.
“The dramatic growth of the Mormon church worldwide and the advent of the Internet age means that what may have been done quietly yesterday is going to be front-page news today,” Rabbi Cooper said. “They may be surprised by the sustained interest and concern from the Jewish community, and are probably surprised to hear from other communities who also don’t like the idea of posthumous conversions. …
“As far as Judaism is concerned, [baptism of the dead] is theologically irrelevant, but emotionally it is quite distressful because it is viewed by many of us as a sign of disrespect.”
Michel, a Holocaust survivor, said he became involved in this issue when he learned that the church posthumously baptized his parents and about 10 other family members, all of whom were killed in the Holocaust.
Christofferson said the church at this time does not have any means of requiring those planning to add a deceased’s name to the database to list the name of the relative who approved the baptism.
“But technology is getting to the point where that would be doable in two or three years,” he said.
Rabbi Cooper said that is not good enough.
“They have to shorten the time period in putting up effective firewalls,” he said. “They are experts. And they have to do a better job in communicating to their fold” the 1995 directive.
He pointed out that the “only reason we are in possession [of the names of Jews who continue to be baptized] is because there are people in the church who see that there is something wrong.”
“The Jewish community is not interested in fighting with them,” Rabbi Cooper added. “We don’t need another enemy. But we need to develop trust.”
Earlier this year, a group of Mormon volunteers organized a cleanup of a Jewish cemetery in Bayside, Queens. While many in the Jewish community welcomed the help, some were skeptical of the participants’ motivation, suggesting the purpose was to collect names for posthumous baptism, a charge denied by leaders of the group.
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